dak Picture of the Day: 2008

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Even Santa's Job Isn't Safe...

FIRST TIME: Treasury Bills Trade at Negative Rates...

World Bank predicts global gloom: The Bank said a deep global recession could not be ruled out.

UK: The great credit card scandal: Credit card companies are facing an investigation by competition watchdogs after defying government warnings to improve their lending practices.

Sony to cut 8,000 jobs, 4 percent of work force: - Sony Corp. is slashing 4 percent of its worldwide work force, reining in spending and shutting plants as it tries to ride out a looming worldwide recession that is battering Japan's export-reliant manufacturers.

Coming soon to U.S., 1 million jobs lost every month: Report: London-based GFC Economics is making a frightening prediction: By spring 2009, the United States could be facing more than 1 million layoffs every successive month.

Economy bad all over -- even before current crisis: New census data shows that throughout the first half of the decade, the slumping economy touched nearly every community in the country. Incomes dropped while poverty and unemployment rose in the vast majority of the nation's cities and towns.

10 clues: A new bubble is blowing: Bet on Wall Street hyping a recovery, big earnings, new bull in 2009

U.S. to announce rescue for corporate credit unions: Journal: Some major corporate credit unions, whose finances have been hurt by losses on mortgage-backed securities, are the subject of a federal rescue plan to be announced this week, The Wall Street Journal reported

Investors Buy $32 Billion in Treasury Bills with ZERO Yield: . Why would anyone be willing to make an investment in which they are guaranteed to make nothing? The one word answer is “Fear.”

Fannie Faulted For 'Orgy' Of Subprime, Risky Loans

US Economy In Accelerating Freefall

10% US Homeowners In Arrears Or Foreclosure

BIS Warns Of Collapse Of Global Lending

Japan Recession Much Worse Than Predicted

Sony Cuts 16,000 Jobs, Shuts Plants

UK Slowdown Worse Than Forecast

Banks Withdraw Business Overdrafts

90% UK Pension Plans In Red Over $300B

The Great Credit Card Scandal

Tribune Files For Bankruptcy

Budweiser To Cut 1,400 US Jobs

All Over Again?

Merrill's John Thain Waives Bonus After Outcry

Former Bear Stearns CEO Says Wall St Is 'No More'

US Bailout Watchdog Appointed

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Treasury wants to borrow record $550B...

No Currency Left to Buy the Big Lies

By John Cusack

No more money left to pay off the debt, the wreckage in the wake. The orgy of excess has drained every bottle, smashed the furniture and left the cupboards bare. All that's left is derivative debts -- bets between liars and lies. Trillions of dollars. It turned capitalism into a Ponzi scheme for trading worthless paper. Continue

Eurozone edges towards recession: The worst financial crisis for generations has driven the European economy to the brink of recession and economic growth will come close to a standstill in 2009, the European commission has warned.

Spain Lets Jobless Postpone Half of Mortgage Payments : Spain will allow unemployed workers to put off paying half their monthly mortgage payments for two years, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said today, part of a series of measures aimed at softening the impact of a shrinking economy.

The Fed as a central bank to the world: While the French President dreams of global economic cooperation ahead of the G20 summit in Washington, the Fed is quietly becoming central bank to the world, backed by the full might of the U.S. Treasury and a teflon-coated greenback.

Effectiveness of AIG's $143 Billion Rescue Questioned: "What we see now are a lot of games by the government to keep these institutions going with a lot of cash," she said. "This is to fill holes in companies' balance sheets, and they're trying to hold at bay the charges that our financial system is insolvent."

Manufacturing activity at 26-year low: Business research group says its index fell to recessionary level. - Employment in the manufacturing sector fell for the third month in a row

Circuit City to shut 155 U.S. stores to preserve cash: Struggling electronics retailer Circuit City Stores Inc. said Monday that it's shutting 155 U.S. underperforming stores, reducing future store openings and aggressively renegotiating certain leases to help preserve cash after its liquidity deteriorated and its vendors tightened the company's payment terms.

Debt linked to huge buyouts is tightening the vise: "There's absolutely going to be a lot of pain to go around," said Josh Lerner, a professor of investment banking at Harvard Business School. "The big question is how apocalyptic it will be."

Gas Drops To $2.45 Gal - Oil Down To $63 Barrel

Looting Continues - Middle Class Doomed

Russia Says US Behind Financial Crisis

Brits Hoarding Cash?

Pension Fund Grab Cost Brits $450B

HBOS, RBS Show Massive Asset Losses

Intl Trade Slowed 'Savagely' By Credit Crisis

Bretton Woods Is Dead

Commerzbank Accepts £.2B State Funding

Seoul To Pump Eextra $11B Into Economy

Global Markets End Oct - Worst Losses Ever

The End Of Economic Prosperity